Destinations

Features

Hotels

Tours

The Sandpiper

The family-run Sandpiper is one of Barbados' best luxury hotels, particularly since its revamp, which added a second sleek swimming pool and stylish new beachfront suites. The restaurant is excellent, and many other places to eat, drink and shop are a short walk away in Holetown.

Location

8/10

Good if you want to be near the centre of things. The hotel is on the northern outskirts of Holetown, focal point of tourism on Barbados' upmarket west coast. It's around five minutes' walk to Limegrove, a snazzy shopping mall, and a wide choice of restaurants and bars awaits on nearby sidestreets.

The Sandpiper is set behind an attractive sandy inlet between rocky breakwaters. The waterfront hereabouts is quite lively, with lots of people strolling along the interconnected beaches and boardwalks either side of the property, and the sea busy with boats and watersports.

Style & character

9/10

The Sandpiper is a smaller and more informal-feeling sister property to the Coral Reef Club, 10 minutes' walk up the coast. Spread around compact tropical gardens brimming with colour and birdlife are two-storey accommodation blocks, two swimming pools (the new one a slick-looking designer lap pool with loungers half-sunken in the water), an open-air restaurant fringed by koi-filled ponds, an inviting beach bar and a decked sunbathing area behind the sands. The current owners opened The Sandpiper back in 1970, and many guests are loyal regulars; the clientele is noticeably younger than at some other top-end west-coast hotels.

Service & facilities

8/10

This is a very well-run operation, with personal, courteous service to the fore. The Sandpiper is owned by the O'Hara and Capaldi families who can be seen managing the property on a day-to-day basis. Wayne Capaldi was much in evidence when I visited, chatting to guests at every table during dinner. Some staff, such as Harold Shepherd, who can be found at his eponymous bar, have been at the hotel for decades.

Facilities include two swimming pools, a watersports centre, a gym and two tennis courts. Guests can use the very enticing spa at the Coral Reef Club (free transfers provided).

Bar

Beach

Fitness centre

Kids' club

Laundry

Parking

Pool

Restaurant

Room service

Tennis court

Wi-Fi

Rooms

8/10

There are 50 rooms. Cheapest are Garden View Rooms, decorated in understated elegance with pretty Caribbean prints, and with good-sized terraces or balconies affording lots of privacy. More than half the rooms are suites, and most of these have a separate sitting area, fancy bathroom and kitchenette. If you want to push the boat out, enquire about the two Beach House Suites and Tree Top Suite Curlew: these are thoroughly indulgent, contemporary-styled, newly-created pads with vast waterfront terraces, dramatic bathrooms and "media centres" in their living rooms. Note that most rooms do not automatically come equipped with televisions or tea trays, but these can be provided on request.

Food & drink

9/10

The Sandpiper's restaurant is set in the middle of the gardens in an open-sided wooden structure, with lanterns hanging from the rafters; in the evenings, the atmosphere is romantic – there's live music most nights. The food is excellent – some of the best you'll find at any hotel on the island. Highlights from recent meals include plump scallops in a zingy citrus dressing as a starter, and grilled chunks of dorado presented on a wooden platter, with truffle mac and cheese on the side, as a main course. There are also home-made breads, and plenty of Caribbean/Bajan dishes on offer, such as curries and steamed flying fish.

With freshly-squeezed orange juice, home-made smoothies, a dazzling selection of fruit, and a wide choice of cooked treats (cinnamon French toast, pancakes, waffles), breakfasts are outstanding. During the day, the attention shifts to Harold's Beach Bar and its adjoining terrace.

Value for money

7/10

Garden Rooms from £345 (US$490) in low season; rising to £711 (US$1,010) in high. That's similar to the Coral Reef Club, and comparable to other top-end west-coast hotels on Barbados. Rates include breakfast, non-motorised watersports and a tennis clinic six days a week. If you are on dinner-inclusive rates, you can choose whatever you want from the menu – which is generous. See the website for seven-nights-for-the-price-of-five deals in low-season months. Free Wi-Fi.

Access for guests with disabilities?

There are lots of ground-floor rooms, though none is fully adapted; there is level access to the restaurant and bars.

Family-friendly?

Families are welcome most of the year, except from mid-January to the end of February when no under-12s are accepted. A family programme for under-12s runs in the school summer holidays, with sailing and swimming lessons; supervised childcare for under eights is available two hours a day on weekdays at the Coral Reef Club. Note that under-fives are not allowed in the restaurant or lounge after 7pm.